Northern Hills Xmas 2014 December Xmas Issue 2014 | Page 20

ARTICLE / CHILD DEVELOPEMENT The technological quick fix are backfiring IMAGE: www.depositphotos.com on our children The frontal lobe controls conscious thought, emotions, and even a child’s personality R educing children’s screen time is a conundrum discerning parents struggle with on a daily basis. In the past we have been motivated by a concern that our children should exercise more, be more curious about the world, talk to family more and be protected from inappropriate content. Now, we have one more reason to click the television off (despite the crying child protesting in the background): researchers have found that too much television actually harms your child’s brain structure. In a study, that was published in Cerebral Cortex last year, H